Australia build solid lead as WI pay for dropped catches
BRIDGETOWN: Australia moved into a 171-run lead at lunch on the third day of the first Test at the Kensington Oval on Friday as dropped catches continued to plague the West Indies.
Having trailed at the midway point by just 10 runs, the tourists now hold a commanding lead as they progressed to 181-5 in their second innings.
Travis Head and Beau Webster batted through most of the morning in a fifth-wicket stand of 102 -- the first century partnership of the match.
Head was the lone wicket to fall, trapped lbw for 61 by Shamar Joseph 20 minutes before the interval.
Webster was batting on 49 alongside wicket-keeper/batter Alex Carey (eight).
However, the course of the first session could have been very different had Justin Greaves held on to another straightforward catch at second slip off fast bowler Alzarri Joseph when Head was on 22.
It was the seventh chance put down by the West Indies slip cordon so far in the match, a poor showing in one of the fundamental aspects of the game which began on day one when four catches were shelled.
That error within the first half-hour of the day’s play seemed to deflate the Caribbean side and the pairing of Head and Webster capitalised with determined, purposeful batting.
Putting his faith almost entirely in the faster bowlers available to him, home captain Roston Chase only introduced the team’s lone specialist spinner, Jomel Warrican, for his first bowl of the match when the duo were within sight of reaching the 100-run mark in their partnership.
On Thursday, West Indies’ pace attack again exposed the vulnerability of the Australian top-order batting as the tourists stuttered to 92 for four in their second innings at stumps on the second day.
The Caribbean side were dismissed at tea for 190 in reply to the Aussies’ first innings total of 180. Australia, as a result, led by 82 runs with six wickets in hand.
Another eventful day when ten wickets fell after 14 tumbled on day one also featured contentious television umpiring decisions which left the West Indies feeling aggrieved.
Wicketless in the first innings, Alzarri was first to strike in the long final session when he trapped opener Usman Khawaja lbw.
Pacer Shamar Joseph had to endure Sam Konstas being dropped twice in the same over in the slips before the opener’s tortuous innings ended 20 minutes later when he played on to the same bowler.
Jayden Seales added to his five-wicket haul the day before by removing Josh Inglis for the second time in the match when the right-hander was bowled offering no shot. Australia’s continuing experiment with Cameron Green at number three then suffered another setback when he wafted at Justin Greaves to be taken at first slip.
Earlier, West Indies captain Roston Chase and wicket-keeper Shai Hope held the home side’s innings together with a 67-run stand after they had slipped to 72 for five early on the second morning.
However, Chase was ruled leg-before to Australian counterpart Pat Cummins for 44 just after lunch by television official Adrian Holdstock even though the available television replays suggested the tall right-hander had edged the ball onto his pads.
Holdstock was again the focus of attention when Hope, on 48, appeared to have been cleanly caught down the leg-side by a diving wicket-keeper Alex Carey to give Webster his second wicket.
Hope seemed equally convinced as he was almost in the players’ pavilion as repeated replays of the dismissal gave a strong indication that the ball had touched the ground as Carey attempted to complete the catch. Holdstock nevertheless upheld the dismissal.Alzarri contributed an unbeaten 23 but the innings folded swiftly thereafter with Mitchell Starc finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the innings with three for 65.
SCOREBOARD
AUSTRALIA (1st Innings) 180 (T. Head 59, U. Khawaja 47; J. Seales 5-60, S. Joseph 4-46)
WEST INDIES (1st Innings) 190 (S. Hope 48, R. Chase 44; M. Starc 3-65)
AUSTRALIA (2nd Innings, overnight 92-4):
S. Konstas b S. Joseph 5
U. Khawaja lbw b A. Joseph 15
C. Green c Chase b Greaves 15
J. Inglis b Seales 12
T. Head lbw b S. Joseph 61
B. Webster not out 49
A. Carey not out 8
EXTRAS (B-2, LB-9, NB-5) 16
TOTAL (for five wickets, 57 overs) 181
STILL TO BAT: P. Cummins, M. Starc, N. Lyon, J. Hazlewood
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-27 (Khawaja), 2-34 (Konstas), 3-57 (Inglis), 4-65 (Green), 5-167 (Head)
BOWLING: Seales 13-4-36-1, S. Joseph 17-4-42-2 (3nb), A. Joseph 11-1-42-1 (2nb), Greaves 11-1-38-1, Warrican 5-2-12-0
Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2025